Cricket South Africa slammed for naming only one black player in T20 World Cup squad: ‘We have gone backwards’

Former South Africa sports minister Fikile Mbalula has questioned Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) make up of the T20 World Cup squad – calling out the inclusion of only one black player – Kagiso Rabada – among the 15 named by the Proteas.

CSA’s current target requires the national team to field as many as six players of color in their squad during a season, of which at least two must be black African. The 15-man provisional squad named by South Africa last month included six players of color – Rabada, Reeza Hendricks, Bjorn Fortuin, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi and Ottniel Baartman – but Rabada is the only black African included. While Lungi Ngidi will be travelling alongside the team, the pacer has been named as a reserve, which doesn’t fulfill the target set for the national side.

Pointing the same, South Africa’s former sports minister Fikile Mbalula criticised the board on X. “Only 1 African player selected in the Proteas Team for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 Team. Definitely a reversal of the gains of transformation and doesn’t reflect fair representation of all South Africans in the national cricket tea,” Mbalula wrote.

Former CSA and ICC president Ray Mali furthermore suggested that the squad is an indication of the game going backward in the country.

“I believe a lot has been achieved, but I believe we have gone backwards in terms of cricket – we have taken a step backwards instead of going forward,” Mali said on SABC Sport. “I cannot understand why we can’t have a (larger) number of black players in the South African cricket team at this day and age – no, it’s not acceptable.”

In his scathing attack of the selection, Mali went on to add that the decision was a betrayal of the black Africans in the country. “We have betrayed the people who asked us to negotiate unity for this country. Players are mentored or monitored right from their early days up to the top, so you know which players will represent South Africa,” he said.

Coach shifts blame to domestic pipeline

It is worth noting that at this point, Cricket South Africa doesn’t have an appointed selection committee. The decision-making rests in the hands of the two coaches – Shukri Conrad (Tests) and Rob Walter (ODIs and T20Is), who consult with the director of cricket Enoch Nkwe.

When white-ball coach Rob Walter was enquired about the composition of the squad last month. To which he responded, “number one imperative is to create a winning team”.

Walter blamed the domestic pipeline for not providing with options to compose a more diverse squad. “The system needs to really up the ante so that in six months, 12 months, or two years’ time, and in particular when we reach the 2027 [ODI] World Cup at home, that the demographics and the representation in our team starts to look a bit different.”

Bavuma snubbed

What’s evident is the lack of batting options for the Proteas – a batting-heavy side – among the black Africans.

Temba Bavuma, who had skippered the team in the last two editions of the tournament (2021 and 2022), has been unable to leave a mark in the top order with only 421 runs to his name since 2021 at a woeful average of 17.54 and a sub-standard strike rate of 110.78.

Following his failures with the bat at last year’s ODI World Cup – a format he had been particularly successful in – CSA, opting for Aiden Markram to lead the team in the ODI and T20I series against India, had given signs of a possible captaincy change. That has been followed by a snub from the T20 World Cup squad.

Speaking to The Indian Express last year, Bavuma’s childhood coach Geoffrey Toyana had delved into the complexities of persisting with Bavuma – South Africa’s first black captain. Owing to the socio-political realities in the region that also reflect in sport, “When somebody like that does something special, the whole country tends to get around him.”

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